Vehicle rating system

ABSTRACT

A system may include a telematics device associated with a vehicle having one or more sensors arranged therein, a first computing device associated with a driver of the vehicle, and a driving behaviors analysis server, comprising hardware including a processor and memory. The driving behaviors analysis server may receive, from the one or more sensors and via the telematics device, driving data of the driver of the vehicle and identify one or more driving behaviors of the driver over a predetermined period of time. The driving behaviors analysis server may then determine one or more of the driving behaviors to be indicative of unsafe driving by the driver. Further, based on the determination of unsafe driving behaviors, the driving behaviors analysis server may transmit, to the first computing device, a message on behalf of an insurance provider, recommending the driver to stop or limit driving.

BACKGROUND

Insurance companies may employ telematics devices installed in vehiclesto monitor and analyze driving performance of drivers insured by theinsurance companies. Based on the data collected by such devices,insurance companies may evaluate the driving behaviors of drivers toassess their risk and determine an appropriate insurance cost andpremium for each driver. In this way, insurance companies mayadditionally provide benefits to drivers that engage in safe drivingbehaviors.

In some cases, drivers may be interested in purchasing or leasing new orpreowned vehicles. Drivers may wish to obtain information regarding newor preowned vehicles prior to purchase, such as information regardingvehicle quality, performance, engine power, interior features, exteriorfeatures, and the like. Drivers may rely on information and vehicleratings from consumer reports, surveys, and market research in order todetermine which vehicle to acquire. For example, a driver may consultautomotive ratings and look at which vehicles were rated the best forvarious features.

However, current resources for vehicle ratings may be lacking and mightnot provide a complete picture of vehicle safety to drivers. In somecases, drivers may be particularly interested in vehicle safety as itpertains differently to each driver. For example, one driver may be afaster driver and may take more risks than other drivers. On the otherhand, another driver may naturally drive slower than most drivers andtake fewer risks when driving. In such cases, certain vehicles may bebetter suited or safer for some drivers (e.g., fast drivers) rather thanother drivers (e.g., slow drivers). Nevertheless, conventional vehicleratings might not account for different drivers exhibiting a variety ofdriving behaviors. For example, a driver may purchase or lease a vehiclethat is not appropriately suited for him or her, which may result inunsafe driving. Unsafe driving may lead to accidents, which may beharmful and costly.

In light of the above, there may be a demand for new systems, methods,and devices that leverage telematics devices and data obtained therefromto provide drivers with relevant information for vehicle safety in orderto facilitate vehicle purchasing and leasing decisions.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In light of the foregoing background, the following presents asimplified summary of the present disclosure in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not anextensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify keyor critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of theinvention. The following summary merely presents some concepts of theinvention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detaileddescription provided below.

Aspects of the disclosure describe computerized methods, systems,devices, and apparatuses for a vehicle rating system that determineswhen drivers of rated vehicles that are insured by an insurance companyare no longer capable of driving safely, such as due to physical ormental impairments. For example, the vehicle rating system may identifya driver's driving behaviors and determine if the driver has reached apoint at which the driver may no longer be able to drive safely. Thevehicle rating system may analyze the driver's driving behaviors andprovide recommendations to drivers, recommending the driver to stopdriving, such as for health reasons.

The disclosure describes a system comprising a telematics deviceassociated with a vehicle having one or more sensors arranged therein, afirst computing device associated with a driver of the vehicle, and adriving behaviors analysis server, comprising hardware including aprocessor and memory. The driving behaviors analysis server may beconfigured to receive, from the one or more sensors and via thetelematics device, driving data of the driver of the vehicle, based onthe driving data, identify one or more driving behaviors of the driverover a predetermined period of time, determine one or more of thedriving behaviors to be indicative of unsafe driving, and based on thedetermination of unsafe driving behaviors, transmit, to the firstcomputing device, a recommendation from an insurance provider for thedriver to stop or limit driving.

The disclosure also describes an apparatus comprising at least oneprocessor, a network interface configured to communicate, via a network,with a telematics device associated with a vehicle having one or moresensors arranged therein and a first computing device, and a memorystoring computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the atleast one processor, cause the apparatus to receive, from the one ormore sensors and via the telematics device, driving data of a driver ofthe vehicle, based on the driving data, identify one or more drivingbehaviors of the driver over a predetermined period of time, determineone or more of the driving behaviors to be indicative of unsafe driving,and based on the determination of unsafe driving behaviors, transmit, tothe first computing device, a recommendation from an insurance providerfor the driver to stop or limit driving.

In addition, aspects of this disclosure provide a method that includesreceiving, by a telematics device associated with a vehicle having oneor more sensors arranged therein, driving data of a driver of thevehicle, based on the driving data, identifying, by one or morecomputing devices, one or more driving behaviors of the driver over apredetermined period of time, determining, by the one or more computingdevices, one or more of the driving behaviors to be indicative of unsafedriving, and based on the determination of unsafe driving behaviors,transmitting, by the one or more computing devices and to the driver, arecommendation from an insurance provider for the driver to or limitstop driving.

The methods and systems of the above-referenced embodiments may alsoinclude other additional elements, steps, computer-executableinstructions or computer-readable data structures. In this regard, otherembodiments are disclosed and claimed herein as well. The details ofthese and other embodiments of the present invention are set forth inthe accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features andadvantages of the invention will be apparent from the description,drawings, and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and is notlimited by, the accompanying figures in which like reference numeralsindicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of an example vehicle rating device thatmay be used in accordance with one or more example embodiments.

FIG. 2 depicts an example network environment in which various aspectsof the present disclosure may be implemented in accordance with one ormore example embodiments.

FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram of example method steps for assigningvehicle ratings in accordance with one or more example embodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram of example method steps for providingcustomized recommendations of one or more rated vehicles to drivers inaccordance with one or more example embodiments

FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram of example method steps for identifyingwhen vehicles are ready for sale or trade-in and estimating residualvalues of rated vehicles in accordance with one or more exampleembodiments.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram of example method steps for providingrecommendations for drivers to stop driving based on unsafe drivingbehaviors in accordance with one or more example embodiments.

FIGS. 7A and 7B depict an illustrative diagram of example userinterfaces of a vehicle rating recommendation application in accordancewith one or more example embodiments.

FIGS. 8A and 8B depict an illustrative diagram of example userinterfaces of a vehicle rating recommendation application in accordancewith one or more example embodiments.

FIGS. 9A and 9B depict an illustrative diagram of example userinterfaces of a vehicle rating recommendation application in accordancewith one or more example embodiments.

FIGS. 10A and 10B depict an illustrative diagram of example userinterfaces of a vehicle rating recommendation application in accordancewith one or more example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, computerizedmethods, systems, devices, and apparatuses are disclosed that providevehicle ratings and generate recommendations for drivers. In particular,the present disclosure teaches a vehicle rating system that may bebeneficial in providing drivers with vehicle ratings and customizedrecommendations of rated vehicles for drivers based on driver safetyratings. For example, the vehicle rating system may rate each vehicleaccording to safety based on the frequency of accidents, severity ofaccidents, and the driving behaviors of each driver of a particularvehicle type.

In some embodiments, each driver may also be rated according to his orher driving behaviors while driving a vehicle. That is, the vehiclerating system may receive a driver's driving data which may be collectedby one or more sensors coupled to the vehicle while the driver isdriving. The driving data may include real-time data, such as thedriver's speeds, accelerations, braking, GPS coordinates, and the like.Based on the driving data, the vehicle rating system may determine oneor more driving behaviors of the driver, such as whether the driver isspeeding or driving slow, whether the driver is taking sharp turns,braking hard, and the like. In other words, the vehicle rating systemmay identify whether or not the driver is taking additional risks whiledriving, which in return may compromise the driver's safety in his orher vehicle.

After determining specific driving behaviors, the vehicle rating systemmay assign a driver safety rating to the driver. In some cases, thesafety rating may comprise a grade or one or more numerical values basedon the driver's previous driving history, driving patterns, drivingbehaviors, and the like. For example, the vehicle rating system mayassign a safety rating of A to a driver because the driver exhibits safedriving behaviors. In some cases, an insurance provider may predeterminecertain driving behaviors that are indicative of safe driving. Forexample, driving behaviors that are indicative of safe driving mayinclude slow turns, driving at or below (or within a predeterminedthreshold of) posted speed limits, safe braking, consistentacceleration, steady steering, safe lane changing, maintaining safedistances from other vehicles while driving, and the like.

After assigning a safety rating to a driver, the vehicle rating systemmay determine one or more rated vehicles with safety ratings thatcorrespond to or are similar to the driver safety rating assigned to thedriver. For example, different vehicles may be rated accordingly forvarious features, such as trim levels, traction control, fuel economy,engine power, frequency of accidents, severity of accidents, andlikelihood of accidents. In some embodiments, an insurance provider maymaintain information regarding accidents and vehicle crashes of driverswho are insurance policy holders, and the vehicle rating system mayutilize this information to rate vehicles accordingly. For example, thevehicle rating system may determine a value corresponding to thefrequency of accidents for a particular vehicle based on a plurality ofdrivers who drive the same type of vehicle (e.g., a vehicle of the samemake, model, or year). Accident frequency may indicate a number ofaccidents which occur for a certain vehicle type per unit of time (e.g.,per year). Accident severity may also be considered and may include anamount of damage (e.g., in dollars) to the vehicle, whether an injury toa driver or passenger occurred, and the like.

In some embodiments, the vehicle rating system may be able to ratedifferent vehicle types based on how many accidents each driver has hadover the predetermined period of time. Furthermore, the vehicle ratingsystem may determine how severe each accident is for each driver. Forexample, a driver may be in several accidents over a predeterminedperiod of time, but the severity of each accident may vary. Thus, thevehicle rating system may determine a value for accident severity basedon the data regarding accidents and vehicle crashes of insured drivers.In some cases, the vehicle rating system may analyze the data onaccidents with and/or without injuries (e.g., non-injury accidents) andaccidents with and/or without fatalities to determine the severity ofaccidents. For example, the vehicle rating system may analyze theaccident data to determine where collisions occurred in each vehicle,whether or not the driver and/or one or more passengers were injured ineach vehicle, whether or not the driver and/or one or more passengerswere wearing seatbelts in each vehicle, and the like.

The vehicle rating system may also assess the likelihood or probabilityof accidents for a certain vehicle based on previous accident data. Insome cases, the vehicle rating system may predict how likely a driver ofa vehicle is to get into an accident based on the driver's previousaccidents and driving history and based on data from actual accidentsthat have occurred in vehicles with a same or similar make, model,and/or year as the driver's vehicle. For example, the vehicle ratingsystem may determine the likelihood of accidents for a latest model of avehicle of a new year based on statistical analysis of accidents thathave occurred for drivers of vehicles of the same model in previousyears.

In addition to the frequency of accidents, the severity of accidents,and the likelihood of accidents, the vehicle rating system may also takeinto account driving behaviors for a plurality of drivers of a vehicletype and utilize this information to determine vehicle safety ratingsfor different vehicle types. The vehicle rating system may also providecustomized recommendations of vehicles and/or vehicle features todrivers based on each individual's driving behaviors.

In some embodiments, drivers may be better suited for different vehiclesbased on their particular driving behaviors and safety ratings. Forexample, a first driver may be a fast driver (e.g., accelerate quickly,brake hard, or the like) and may be better suited for and/or prefer avehicle with better performance and speed. That is, the first driver maybe better suited for a two door vehicle (e.g., a sports car) rather thana sedan or a sports utility vehicle (SUV). Even with a range ofdifferent sports cars from which to choose, the first driver may beinterested in having a vehicle that specifically matches his or her owndriving data. The vehicle rating system may be able to provide thisinformation at a granular level and generate recommendations to driversthat are customized accordingly for each particular driver.

That is, the vehicle rating system may determine one or more ratedvehicles with safety ratings that match or correspond to a driver safetyrating assigned to a driver. For example, a driver may demonstratedriving behaviors that are better suited for a particular vehicle. Thevehicle rating system may provide recommendations with the one or morerated vehicles to the driver.

In addition to rating vehicles and providing customized recommendationsto drivers, the vehicle rating system may help drivers who havepurchased or leased vehicles to identify when it is time to sell ortrade in their vehicles. That is, different drivers may engage invarying driving behaviors which may affect their respective vehiclesaccordingly. For example, drivers may each purchase or lease a vehicleand use the vehicle extensively, such as driving more than 5,000 miles,10,000 miles, 20,000 miles, or another number of miles every year. Somedrivers may engage in rough driving behaviors, such as hard braking,sharp turns, inconsistent acceleration, speeding, and the like, in theirpurchased or leased vehicles. Other drivers may engage in safer drivingbehaviors, such as slow turns, driving at or below posted speed limits,safe braking, consistent acceleration, and the like, in their purchasedor leased vehicles. Thus, the vehicle rating system may assist a driverin determining when his or her vehicle is ready for sale or ready to betraded in based on the driver's driving behaviors and based on theresidual value of the vehicle. That is, the vehicle rating system mayestimate residual values of vehicles and provide customizedrecommendations to drivers regarding whether or not the drivers shouldsell or trade in their vehicles.

Furthermore, the vehicle rating system may also provide drivers withrecommendations on when they should no longer be driving. For example,as drivers get older or reach certain ages, they may develop vision orhearing problems, slower reaction times, and/or illnesses that mayjeopardize their ability to drive safely. In some cases, elderly driversmay engage in unsafe driving behaviors, such as driving well belowposted speed limits (e.g., driving at a speed limit that is more than 30miles per hour less than the posted speed limit), missing trafficsignals, failing to stop at road signs, drifting into other lanes, andthe like. These unsafe driving behaviors may lead to dangerouscollisions which may result in serious injuries or fatalities. Thus, thevehicle rating system may be able to detect which drivers should nolonger be driving based on identifying unsafe driving behaviors anddriving patterns. The vehicle rating system may thus providerecommendations to drivers to inform them when they should stop or limittheir driving due to unsafe driving behaviors as indicated by theirdriving histories.

In the following description of the various embodiments, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and inwhich is shown by way of illustration, various embodiments of thedisclosure that may be practiced. It is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized. A person of ordinary skill in the art afterreading the following disclosure will appreciate that the variousaspects described herein may be embodied as a computerized method,system, device, or apparatus utilizing one or more computer programproducts. Accordingly, various aspects of the computerized methods,systems, devices, and apparatuses may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodimentcombining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, various aspects ofthe computerized methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses may take theform of a computer program product stored by one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media having computer-readable program code,or instructions, embodied in or on the storage media. Any suitablecomputer readable storage media may be utilized, including hard disks,CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or anycombination thereof. In addition, various signals representing data orevents as described herein may be transferred between a source and adestination in the form of electromagnetic waves traveling throughsignal-conducting media such as metal wires, optical fibers, and/orwireless transmission media (e.g., air and/or space). It is noted thatvarious connections between elements are discussed in the followingdescription. It is noted that these connections are general and, unlessspecified otherwise, may be direct or indirect, wired or wireless, andthat the specification is not intended to be limiting in this respect.

In one or more arrangements, teachings of the present disclosure may beimplemented with a computing device. FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagramof an example vehicle rating device 100 that may be used in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure. The vehicle rating device 100 isa specialized computing device programmed and/or configured to performand carry out aspects associated with requesting and providing vehiclerating services for drivers as described herein. The vehicle ratingdevice 100 may have a vehicle rating manager 101 configured to performmethods and execute instructions as described herein. The vehicle ratingmanager 101 may be implemented with one or more specially configuredprocessors and one or more storage units (e.g., databases, RAM, ROM, andother computer-readable media), one or more application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), and/or other hardware components.Throughout this disclosure, the vehicle rating manager 101 may refer tothe software (e.g., a computer program or application) and/or hardwareused to assign vehicle ratings to vehicles, provide drivers withcustomized recommendations for one or more rated vehicles, estimateresidual values of a vehicle, provide recommendations regarding when adriver should stop driving, and the like. Specifically, the vehiclerating manager 101 may be a part of a vehicle rating system that ratesvehicles and provides recommendations to drivers. The one or morespecially configured processors of the vehicle rating manager 101 mayoperate in addition to or in conjunction with another general processor103 of the vehicle rating device 100. In some embodiments, the vehiclerating manager 101 may be a software module executed by one or moregeneral processors 103. Both the vehicle rating manager 101 and thegeneral processor 103 may be capable of controlling operations of thevehicle rating device 100 and its associated components, including RAM105, ROM 107, an input/output (I/O) module 109, a network interface 111,and memory 113.

The I/O module 109 may be configured to be connected to an input device115, such as a microphone, keypad, keyboard, touchscreen, gesture orother sensors, and/or stylus through which a user or a driver associatedwith the vehicle rating device 100 may provide input data. The I/Omodule 109 may also be configured to be connected to a display device117, such as a monitor, television, touchscreen, and the like, and mayinclude a graphics card. The display device 117 and input device 115 areshown as separate elements from the vehicle rating device 100, however,they may be within the same structure.

Using the input device 115, system administrators may update variousaspects of the vehicle rating system, such as rules or informationrelated to assigning vehicle ratings to vehicles and providingrecommendations to drivers. For example, system administrators mayupdate predefined threshold values, predetermined ranges, predeterminedperiods of time, and/or information related to estimating residualvalues of vehicles and determining safe and/or unsafe driving behaviors.On some vehicle rating devices 100, the input device 115 may be operatedby users (e.g., drivers associated with a vehicle) to interact with thevehicle rating system, including receiving or submitting informationregarding driving data and driving behaviors, requesting and/orreceiving customized recommendations, vehicle safety ratings, estimatedresidual values of vehicles, and recommendations regarding when a drivershould stop driving. Drivers may also use the input device 115 toprovide and/or update preferences for vehicle rating services, sendand/or receive information (e.g., regarding offers for purchasing orleasing vehicles) from third party entities, update account information,and the like, as described herein.

The memory 113 may be any computer readable medium for storing computerexecutable instructions (e.g., software). The instructions stored withinmemory 113 may enable the vehicle rating device 100 to perform variousfunctions. For example, memory 113 may store software used by thevehicle rating device 100, such as an operating system 119 andapplication programs 121, and may include an associated database 123.

The network interface 111 allows the vehicle rating device 100 toconnect to and communicate with a network 130. The network 130 may beany type of network, including a local area network (LAN) and/or a widearea network (WAN), such as the Internet. Through the network 130, thevehicle rating device 100 may communicate with one or more computingdevices 140, such as laptops, notebooks, smartphones, personalcomputers, servers, and the like. The computing devices 140 may includeat least some of the same components as vehicle rating device 100. Insome embodiments the vehicle rating device 100 may be connected to thecomputing devices 140 to form a “cloud” computing environment.

The network interface 111 may connect to the network 130 viacommunication lines, such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, and thelike or wirelessly using a cellular backhaul or a wireless standard,such as IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15, IEEE 802.16, and the like. In someembodiments, the network interface may include a modem. Further, thenetwork interface 111 may use various protocols, including TCP/IP,Ethernet, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP), and the like, to communicate with other computing devices 140.

FIG. 1 is an example embodiment of a vehicle rating device 100. In otherembodiments, the vehicle rating device 100 may include fewer or moreelements. For example, the vehicle rating device 100 may use the generalprocessor(s) 103 to perform functions of the vehicle rating manager 101,and thus, might not include a separate processor or hardware for thevehicle rating manager 101. Additionally, or alternatively, the vehiclerating device 100 may be a mobile device (e.g., a smartphone, tablet,and the like) specially configured to perform or carry out aspects ofvehicle rating services described herein, and thus, may also includevarious other components, such as a battery, speaker, and/or antennas(not shown). Also, the vehicle rating device 100 may be a telematicsdevice and/or a vehicle computing device (either installed by a vehiclemanufacturer or as an aftermarket part) having vehicle compatibleelements, such as a port for an on-board diagnostic connector or portsfor other vehicle sensors (e.g., tire pressure sensors, enginetemperature sensors, and the like). For example, the vehicle ratingdevice 100 may be a vehicle's computer or a device plugged into thevehicle's computer for use in vehicle telematics.

The computerized methods for providing vehicle rating features,assigning safety ratings to vehicles, and providing recommendations todrivers as disclosed herein may be implemented on one or more vehiclerating devices 100 used in various network environments. FIG. 2illustrates an example network environment 200 for implementing methodsin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 2, the network environment 200 may include a network201 configured to connect a vehicle rating system 202, vehicle ratingdevice 212, vehicle 217, telematics device 222, and mobile device 220.The vehicle rating device 212 may be the same as or at least similar tothe vehicle rating device 100 described above with reference to FIG. 1.Collectively, these specialized computing devices may form at least apart of a vehicle rating system. Although only one of each of thecomponents 212, 217, and 220 are shown in FIG. 2, it is understood thatthere may be any number of components 212, 217, and 220 in the networkenvironment 200.

The network 201 may be any type of network, like the network 130described above, and may use one or more communication protocols (e.g.,protocols for the Internet (IP), Bluetooth, cellular communications,satellite communications, and the like.) to connect computing devicesand servers within the network environment 200 so they may send andreceive communications between each other. In particular, the network201 may include a cellular network and its components, such as celltowers. Accordingly, for example, a mobile device 220 (e.g., asmartphone) or a vehicle rating device 212 of a driver associated withvehicle 217 may communicate, via a cellular backhaul of the network 201,with a vehicle rating system 202 to request or receive vehicle ratinginformation or a recommendation as a part of the vehicle rating service.In another example, the mobile device 220 or the vehicle rating device212 of the driver of the vehicle 217 may communicate, via the cellularbackhaul of the network 201, with the vehicle rating system 202 torequest information regarding a residual value of a vehicle or to updateaccount information and/or preferences for the vehicle rating servicefor the vehicle 217. And in the opposite direction, the vehicle ratingsystem 202 may communicate, via the cellular backhaul of the network201, with the mobile device 220 or the vehicle rating device 212 tonotify the user (e.g., the driver of vehicle 217) of the mobile device220 or vehicle rating device 212 of a vehicle rating that has beenassigned to a vehicle 217, a customized recommendation of one or morerated vehicles for lease or purchase by the driver, or a recommendationfor the driver to stop or limit driving due to age or health reasons. Inanother embodiment, the mobile device 220 and/or vehicle rating device212 may communicate back and forth with the vehicle rating system 202over the Internet, such as through a web portal. As shown in FIG. 2, itshould be understood that the mobile device 220 or vehicle rating device212 may connect to the network even if it is removed from the vehicle217.

In some embodiments, there may be multiple vehicles 217. Although FIG. 2illustrates only one vehicle 217, the vehicle rating system 202 may beconfigured to communicate with multiple vehicles 217 simultaneously(e.g., at or around the same time), and the multiple vehicles 217 may beassociated with multiple individuals. For example, the multiple vehicles217 may represent different vehicle types, wherein each vehicle type maybe driven by a plurality of drivers. That is, a vehicle 217 mayrepresent a particular vehicle model, vehicle make, and/or vehicle year,in which different drivers may drive different vehicle models and thelike. In some cases, there may be a plurality of drivers associated witheach vehicle model or type. For example, there may be thousands orhundreds of thousands of drivers who drive a first make and modelvehicle (e.g., 4 door mid-sized sedan manufactured by a firstmanufacturer) and another group of thousands of drivers who drive asecond make and model vehicle (e.g., 4 door mid-sized sedan manufacturedby a second manufacturer different from the first manufacturer). Thevehicle 217 may represent each vehicle model that is driven by aplurality of drivers. The vehicle rating system 202 may receive drivingdata for multiple vehicles 217 simultaneously, identify drivingbehaviors for the drivers of the multiple vehicles 217 simultaneously,assign vehicle ratings to each of the multiple vehicles 217simultaneously, and send recommendations to drivers simultaneously.Also, although FIG. 2 depicts the vehicle 217 as a car, the vehicle 217may be any type of vehicle, including a motorcycle, bicycle, scooter,drone (or other automated device), truck, bus, boat, plane, helicopter,recreational vehicle, and the like.

In some embodiments, there may be a driver associated with the vehicle217. The driver may be associated with the vehicle 217 if the driver isan owner of the vehicle 217 and/or has access and/or permission to driveor operate the vehicle 217. Additionally or alternatively, a driver maybe associated with the vehicle 217 if the driver is identified on aninsurance policy that insures the vehicle 217. A driver of the vehicle217 may also be associated with and operate a vehicle rating device 212.In some embodiments, the vehicle rating device 212 may be a specializedmobile device (e.g., mobile phone), a tablet, laptop, personal computer,and the like configured to perform or carry out aspects associated withvehicle rating described herein. For example, the vehicle rating device212 may be the same as the mobile device 220 depicted in FIG. 2. Thevehicle rating device 212 may belong to a driver, individual, orcustomer of an insurance company who is enrolled in a vehicle ratingservice. Although only one vehicle rating device 212 is illustrated inFIG. 2, there may be any number of vehicle rating devices 212, whereineach vehicle rating device 212 is associated with at least one driver.The vehicle rating device 212 may further comprise a vehicle ratingmanager 213, a display 214, and sensors 215. In the case of a vehiclerating device 212 that is installed in or connected to a vehicle 217,the individual is considered to operate that vehicle rating device 212by performing the installation or connection of that device in or at thevehicle 217.

The vehicle rating device 212 may be configured to execute the vehiclerating manager 213 that presents a user interface (e.g., a graphicaluser interface for a website, application, software program, and thelike) on the display 214. The display 214 may comprise a monitor,television, touchscreen, and the like. The user interface of the vehiclerating manager 213 may allow drivers to access vehicle ratinginformation and receive customized recommendations from the vehiclerating system 202. Drivers may also update account information orpreferences for the vehicle rating services provided by the vehiclerating system 202 through the user interface of the vehicle ratingmanager 213.

The vehicle rating manager 213 may be a self-sufficient program or maybe a module of another program, such as a program used to collect and/orevaluate driver information representing actions of a vehicle 217,driving behavior of a driver associated with a vehicle 217, and/orstatus updates of a vehicle 217. The vehicle rating manager 213 may haveaccess to driving data that is collected by the sensors 215 of thevehicle rating device 212. The vehicle rating manager 213 may beconfigured in a similar manner as the vehicle rating manager 101 orconfigured to perform similar functions as those performed by thevehicle rating manager 101. The sensors 215 may comprise various sensorsand/or modules that detect driving data, environmental information,and/or other risk-related factors of a driver of a vehicle 217. Forexample, the sensors 215 may comprise an accelerometer, speedometer,GPS, gyroscope, and the like. In some embodiments, the sensors 215 maydetect risk-related factors that may result in a roadside incidentinvolving the vehicle 217.

In some embodiments, the sensors 215 may be capable of detecting andrecording various conditions at the vehicle and operational parametersof the vehicle. For example, sensors 215 may detect and store datacorresponding to the vehicle's speed, distances driven, rates ofacceleration or braking, and specific instances of sudden acceleration,braking, and swerving. Sensors 215 also may detect and store datareceived from the vehicle's 217 internal systems, such as impact to thebody of the vehicle, air bag deployment, headlights usage, brake lightoperation, door opening and closing, door locking and unlocking, cruisecontrol usage, hazard lights usage, windshield wiper usage, horn usage,turn signal usage, seat belt usage, phone and radio usage within thevehicle, maintenance performed on the vehicle, and other data collectedby the vehicle's computer systems.

Additional sensors 215 may detect and store the external drivingconditions, for example, external temperature, rain, snow, light levels,and sun position for driver visibility. Sensors 215 also may detect andstore data relating to moving violations and the observance of trafficsignals and signs by the vehicle 217. Additional sensors 215 may detectand store data relating to the maintenance of the vehicle 217, such asthe engine status, oil level, engine coolant temperature, odometerreading, the level of fuel in the fuel tank, engine revolutions perminute (RPMs), and/or tire pressure.

The vehicle 217 also may include one or more cameras and proximitysensors 215 capable of recording additional conditions inside or outsideof the vehicle 217. Internal cameras may detect conditions such as thenumber of the passengers in the vehicle 217, and potential sources ofdriver distraction within the vehicle (e.g., pets, phone usage,unsecured objects in the vehicle). External cameras and proximitysensors 215 may detect other nearby vehicles, traffic levels, roadconditions and roadway types, (e.g., such as expressways, highways,private lanes, and the like), traffic obstructions, traffic controls,animals, cyclists, pedestrians, weather conditions, and other conditionsthat may factor into driving trip and/or driving data analyses.

The vehicle rating manager 213 may also have access to maintenance datathat is collected by the sensors 215 of the vehicle rating device 212.For example, the sensors 215 may comprise car engine sensors, oxygensensors, temperature sensors, water sensors, coolant sensors, positionsensors, oil pressure gauges, and the like. Each of these sensors 215may be used to monitor various metrics of the vehicle 217 to ensure thatthe vehicle 217 is properly functioning under safe operating conditions.In some embodiments, the sensors 215 may detect maintenance-relatedissues in the vehicle 217.

In some embodiments, the vehicle rating manager 213 may be downloaded orotherwise installed onto the vehicle rating device 212 using knownmethods. Different devices may install different versions of the vehiclerating manager 213 depending on their platform. A driver may launch thevehicle rating manager 213 by, for example, operating buttons or atouchscreen on the vehicle rating device 212. Additionally, oralternatively, the vehicle rating device 212 may be configured toexecute a web browser (e.g., an application for accessing and navigatingthe Internet) to access a web page providing an interface for thevehicle rating system 202. In some embodiments, the vehicle ratingdevice 212 may also be configured to collect information, such asdriving data. For example, the vehicle rating manager 213 or anotherprogram installed on the vehicle rating device 212 may instruct thevehicle rating device 212 to collect driving data using the varioussensors 215 (e.g., accelerometer, speedometer, GPS, car engine sensors,oxygen sensors, temperature sensors, water sensors, coolant sensors,position sensors, oil pressure gauges, and the like). Driving data mayinclude real-time data that is collected by the one or more sensors 218coupled to the vehicle 217 while the driver is driving. Furthermore, thevehicle rating manager 213 may be able to identify one or more drivingbehaviors based on the driving data. The driving behaviors for thedriver may be based on at least one of driving speed, acceleration,braking, steering, miles driven, road conditions, amount of time driven,and the like. Drivers may exhibit different driving behaviors, such asstaying within or going above posted speed limits or engaging in oravoiding sudden braking or sharp turning events while driving vehicle217. Different driving behaviors may affect a driver's safety rating, avehicle's safety rating, and residual value of the vehicle 217. Thevehicle rating manager 213 or another program may also collect locationinformation, such as GPS coordinates indicating the geographicallocation of the vehicle rating device 212 and/or vehicle 217.

In some embodiments, the vehicle rating manager 213 may use thecollected driving data to determine one or more driving behaviors,assign driver safety ratings to drivers, assign safety rating tovehicles based on driving behaviors of a plurality of drivers, and/orprovide customized recommendations to drivers, in accordance with one ormore embodiments disclosed herein.

Additionally, FIG. 2 also illustrates a telematics device 222, which maybe referred to as a vehicle computing device that is associated with thevehicle 217 and the mobile device 220. In some embodiments, the mobiledevice 220 and telematics device 222 may communicate with one another(e.g., via Bluetooth). The mobile device 220 may be any mobile device(e.g., a smartphone, tablet, and the like) that is associated with adriver or passenger of the vehicle 217. In particular, the mobile device220 may belong to a driver of the vehicle 217, wherein the driver is acustomer of an insurance provider and enrolled in a service that allowsthe driver to participate in vehicle rating services. The mobile device220 may be configured similarly to the vehicle rating device 212 and mayinterface with the telematics device 222.

The telematics device 222 may be configured to execute a vehicle ratingmanager 213 that presents a user interface for a customer to provideinputs to and receive outputs from the vehicle rating system 202. Thevehicle rating manager 213 may be downloaded or otherwise installed ontothe telematics device 222 using known methods. Once installed onto thetelematics device 222, a driver may launch the vehicle rating manager213 by, for example, operating buttons or a touchscreen on the dashboardof the vehicle 217. Additionally, or alternatively, the telematicsdevice 222 may be configured to execute a web browser to access a webpage providing an interface for the vehicle rating system 202.

In some embodiments, the telematics device 222 may be a device that isplugged into the vehicle's 217 on-board diagnostic (OBD) system (e.g.,plugged in through an OBD II connector) or otherwise installed in thevehicle 217 in order to collect driving data using, e.g., itsaccelerometer, GPS, gyroscope, or any other sensor (either in thetelematics device 222 or the vehicle 217). As mentioned above, thisdriving data may include data indicative of one or more vehicle metrics,as well as vehicle telematics data or any other data related to eventsoccurring during a vehicle's trip (e.g., an impact to a part of thevehicle 217, a deployed airbag, or other event triggered by a sensor 215of the vehicle 217). The vehicle 217 may have a GPS installed therein,and therefore, the telematics device 222 may also collect GPScoordinates. Alternatively, the telematics device 222 may include itsown GPS receiver.

Further, the telematics device 222 may include multiple devices. Forexample, the telematics device 222 may include the vehicle's OBD systemand other computers of the vehicle 217. The telematics device 222 may beconfigured to interface with one or more vehicle sensors (e.g., fuelgauge, tire pressure sensors, engine temperature sensors, and the like).For example, the telematics device 222 may be configured to interfacewith the vehicle sensor 218, which may collect driving data. The drivingdata collected by vehicle sensor 218 may be stored and/or analyzedwithin the vehicle 217, such as for example by a driving analysiscomputer 224 integrated into the vehicle, and/or may be transmitted toone or more external devices. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, sensordata may be transmitted via a telematics device 222 to one or moreremote computing devices, such as vehicle rating device 212, mobiledevice 220, vehicle rating system 202, and/or other remote devices.

The telematics device 222 may also interface with the mobile device 220via a wired connection (e.g., USB, OBD II connector, and the like) or awireless connection (e.g., Bluetooth). In some embodiments, there mightnot be a telematics device 222 installed in the vehicle 217 that isconfigurable to interface with the vehicle rating system 202, or thetelematics device 222 might not be able to communicate with the mobiledevice 220. Still, in some cases, the telematics device 222 might beconfigured so that it only communicates with the mobile device 220within the same vehicle 217.

In some embodiments, both a telematics device 222 and a mobile device220 (or a vehicle rating device 212) may be employed, whereas in anotherembodiment, only one of these devices may be used with the vehiclerating system to collect driving data. For example, a driver associatedwith the vehicle 217 may choose whether he or she wishes to use his orher mobile phone to capture driving data or whether he or she wishes tohave a device plugged into the vehicle 217 to collect driving data.

FIG. 2 also illustrates example subsystems within the networkenvironment 200. That is the vehicle rating system 202 may comprise avehicle rating subsystem 203 and a plurality of databases 206. Thevehicle rating subsystem 203 may include one or more applicationservers, computing devices, and other equipment (e.g., conference bridgeequipment) used by company or entity (e.g., insurance provider)personnel to implement and provide the vehicle rating services describedherein. For example, the vehicle rating subsystem 203 may include avehicle rating module 205 that is configured with programmedinstructions to assign a vehicle rating to a vehicle 217 based oncollected driving data and generate customized recommendations for adriver of the vehicle 217. The vehicle rating module 205 may assignvehicle ratings to a plurality of vehicles and store data regarding theplurality of rated vehicles as one or more records in a database (e.g.,database 206) of the vehicle rating system 202, in which the one or morerecords may be associated with driver or customer records stored in thedatabase. For example, the one or more records may identify a uniqueidentification number for a driver or customer. In another example, theone or more records may include a field for a vehicle type, a field forthe vehicle rating, and multiple fields for each feature of the vehicletype. The vehicle rating module 205 may update the vehicle ratingassignment by inserting one or more identifiers in the fields of the oneor more records. Furthermore, the vehicle rating module 205 may alsoupdate or store information regarding vehicle information, vehicleratings, driving behaviors, driver safety ratings, and the like in oneor more databases 206.

The vehicle rating subsystem 203 may include functionality that may bedistributed among a plurality of computing devices. For example, thevehicle rating subsystem 203 may comprise further subsystems, includingclient-side subsystems and server-side subsystems. The client-sidesubsystem may interface with the vehicle rating device 212, telematicsdevice 222, and/or mobile device 220, whereas the server-side subsystemmay interface with application servers and computing devices whichhandle a variety of tasks related to the overall management of vehiclerating services. For example, the subsystem 203 may also include one ormore servers, such as a driving behaviors analysis server 207. Thedriving behaviors analysis server 207 may be configured to performvehicle rating services as described herein. For example, the drivingbehaviors analysis server 207 may analyze collected driving data for adriver of the vehicle 217, identify one or more driving behaviors, ratethe vehicle 217 based on the one or more driving behaviors, and/orprovide a customized recommendation to the driver of the vehicle 217.

The subsystems, application servers, and computing devices of thevehicle rating subsystem 203 may also have access to the plurality ofdatabases 206. In some embodiments, the plurality of databases 206 maybe incorporated into the vehicle rating subsystem 203 or may be separatecomponents in the vehicle rating subsystem 203. As an example, theplurality of databases 206 (e.g., databases 206 a-206 n) may include oneor more of a vehicle ratings database, a driver safety rating database,a driving behaviors database, an accounts and billing database, avehicle information database, a driving history database, and othertypes of databases. That is, the databases 206 a-206 n may store one ormore of vehicle ratings, driver safety ratings, driving behaviors,accounts and billing information, vehicle information, driving historyinformation, and other types of data. The data stored in the pluralityof databases 206 may be collected and compiled by the vehicle ratingdevice 212, the telematics device 222, the vehicle rating subsystem 203,or by servers and subsystems within the vehicle rating subsystem 203.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method in accordancewith steps of the present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 3 illustratesexample method steps for identifying a plurality of drivers of aparticular vehicle type, determining an accident frequency value,determining an accident severity value, identifying driving behaviorsfor each driver of the vehicle type, and assigning a vehicle safetyrating to the vehicle type based on the accident frequency value, theaccident severity value, and the driving behaviors for each driver ofthe vehicle type. The steps of FIG. 3 may be performed by subsystems,application servers, and computing devices of the vehicle rating system202 (e.g., vehicle rating subsystem 203). One or more of the steps ofFIG. 3 may be performed by executing a vehicle rating program (e.g., avehicle rating mobile application) and/or by operating a particularlyconfigured computing device of the vehicle rating system 202. As aresult of the method of FIG. 3, a driver, at vehicle rating device 212(e.g., and/or at mobile device 220) and associated with vehicle 217, maybe provided with access to a database storing data regarding a pluralityof rated vehicles, wherein each vehicle type comprises a vehicle safetyrating.

The method of FIG. 3 may begin with a step 301 of identifying aplurality of drivers of a vehicle type. In some embodiments, the vehiclerating system 202 may identify a plurality of drivers of a vehicle type,wherein each driver may be associated with a respective vehicle that iscategorized by the vehicle type. The vehicle type may indicate a vehicleof a similar or same vehicle model, vehicle make, and year, and thevehicle of each driver may be insured by an insurance provider. Forexample, the vehicle type (e.g., vehicle type 1) may be a particularyear, make, and model of the vehicle. The vehicle rating system maydetermine that there are 5,000 drivers who drive a vehicle of vehicletype 1 and are insured by an insurance provider. At step 302, thevehicle rating system may determine a number of accidents for eachdriver of the vehicle type over a predetermined period of time. Forexample, the vehicle rating system 202 may determine how many accidentseach of the 5,000 drivers (e.g., of the vehicle of vehicle type 1) havebeen involved in over a predetermined period of time (e.g., over a fewmonths, over a year, over two years, or another period of time). In someembodiments, the number of accidents for each driver may includecollisions, crashes, and automobile rollovers for the vehicle type overa year.

At step 303, the vehicle rating system 202 may calculate an accidentfrequency value for the plurality of drivers of the vehicle type basedon the number of accidents for each driver of the vehicle type. Forexample, the vehicle rating system 202 may determine the frequency ofaccidents for the vehicle of vehicle type 1 based on how many accidentseach driver has been involved in over a predetermined period of time. Atstep 304, the vehicle rating system 202 may determine an accidentseverity value for the plurality of drivers of the vehicle type. Forexample, the vehicle rating system 202 may determine the accidentseverity value based on analyzing each accident that has occurred foreach driver of the vehicle type. In some embodiments, the vehicle ratingsystem 202 may analyze at least one of vehicle damages, vehicle repairtimes, injuries, non-injuries, and fatalities for each accident that hasoccurred for each driver of the vehicle type. After obtaining theaccident severity value, at step 305, the vehicle rating system 202 mayparse driving data for each driver of the vehicle type. For example, thedriving data for each driver may be stored in a database 206, and thevehicle rating system 202 may examine the driving data, which maycomprise real-time data that is collected by one or more sensors coupledto each driver's vehicle while the driver is driving.

At step 306, the vehicle rating system 202 may identify drivingbehaviors for each driver of the vehicle type. For example, the vehiclerating system 202 may identify driving behaviors for each driver basedon at least one of driving speeds, acceleration, braking, steering,miles driven, road conditions, amount of time driven, and the like. Thedriving behaviors may represent patterns in the driving data that arerepeated over a predetermined period of time. In some embodiments, thedriving behaviors for each driver may indicate whether the driverengages in speeding or driving slow, whether the driver is taking sharpturns, whether the driver brakes suddenly, and the like.

At step 307, the vehicle rating system 202 may assign a vehicle safetyrating to the vehicle type based on the accident frequency value, theaccident severity value, and the driving behaviors for each driver ofthe vehicle type.

For example, the vehicle rating system 202 may determine a vehiclesafety rating based on normalization of the driving behaviors from eachdriver of the vehicle type. Furthermore, the vehicle rating system 202may also calculate a likelihood of accidents value for the vehicle typebased on a statistical analysis of the driving behaviors, drivinghistory, and accident data for each driver of the vehicle type. Thelikelihood of accidents value may indicate how likely it is for anydriver of the vehicle type to get into an accident when driving.

At step 308, the vehicle rating system 202 may store data regarding thevehicle safety rating for the vehicle type in a database. For example,the vehicle rating system 202 may store the vehicle safety rating in avehicle ratings database 206, wherein the database 206 may be accessibleto one or more computing devices.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 4illustrates example method steps for identifying a driver's drivingbehaviors, assigning a driver safety rating based on the drivingbehaviors, identifying one or more rated vehicles that match the driversafety rating, and providing customized recommendations to the driver.The steps of FIG. 4 may be performed by subsystems, application servers,and computing devices of the vehicle rating system 202 (e.g., vehiclerating subsystem 203). One or more of the steps of FIG. 4 may beperformed by executing a vehicle rating program (e.g., a vehicle ratingmobile application) and/or by operating a particularly configuredcomputing device of the vehicle rating system 202. As a result of themethod of FIG. 4, a driver, at vehicle rating device 212 (e.g., and/orat mobile device 220) and associated with vehicle 217, may be providedwith a recommendation regarding one or more rated vehicles or one ormore vehicle features.

The method of FIG. 4 may begin with a step 401 of receiving drivingdata. For example, the vehicle rating system 202 may receive drivingdata for a driver of the vehicle 217. In some embodiments, the drivingdata of the driver of vehicle 217 may be collected over a period of timeby the telematics device 222, vehicle rating device 212, or mobiledevice 220. Driving data may include real-time data that is collected byone or more sensors (e.g., sensors 218) coupled to the vehicle 217 whilethe driver is driving. For example, driving data may include vehicletelematics data, along with location information, such as GPScoordinates, indicating the geographical location of the driver in thevehicle 217. At step 402, the vehicle rating system may identify drivingbehaviors over the predetermined period of time based on the drivingdata. For example, the vehicle rating system 202 may identify one ormore driving behaviors for the driver based on at least one of drivingspeeds, acceleration, braking, steering, miles driven, road conditions,amount of time driven, and the like. The driving behaviors may representpatterns in the driving data that are repeated over the predeterminedperiod of time. In some embodiments, the driving behaviors may indicatewhether the driver engages in speeding or driving slow, whether thedriver is taking sharp turns, whether the driver brakes suddenly, andthe like. In some embodiments, the predetermined period of time mayrepresent a billing period associated with an insurance policy of thedriver or a period of time (e.g., a day, a week, a month, a year, etc.)set by an insurance provider.

At step 403, the vehicle rating system may calculate a score for eachdriving behavior. For example, the vehicle rating system 202 maycalculate a score for speed, braking, steering, turn signals, milesdriven, amount of time driven at night, amount of time driven duringdaytime, and the like. At step 404, the vehicle rating system 202 mayassign an overall driving score for the driver based on the score foreach of the one or more driving behaviors. For example, the vehiclerating system 202 may compute an overall driving score for the driver bytotaling the driving behavior scores. At step 405, the vehicle ratingsystem 202 may determine a predetermined score range that the overalldriving score is within. In some cases, an insurance provider may setcertain predetermined score ranges that correspond to safe drivingbehaviors, and the vehicle rating system 202 may use these predeterminedscore ranges to determine if a driver's scores are indicative of safedriving. For example, the vehicle rating system 202 may determine thatthe overall driving score is within a range of 60-70, 71-80, 81-90, or91-100, wherein each range may be predetermined by the insurancecompany. The example for calculating the overall driving score above ismerely one example method of calculating the overall driving score for adriver. More or fewer factors may be considered without departing fromthe invention. Further, one or more weighting factors may be used inscoring each behavior or in determining the overall score. Furtherstill, various other methods of calculating an overall score may be usedwithout departing from the invention.

At step 406, the vehicle rating system 202 may assign a driver safetyrating corresponding to the predetermined score range to the driver. Insome cases, the predetermined score range may correspond to a driversafety rating of a certain level or of a certain range. For example, ifthe predetermined score range is within a range of 71-80, the driversafety rating may be represented as a grade of C. If the predeterminedscore range is within a range of 81-90, the driver safety rating may berepresented as a grade of B. If the predetermined score range is withina range of 91-100, the driver safety rating may be represented as agrade of A. The vehicle rating system 202 may assign the driver safetyrating as a grade or a numerical value and store the driver safetyrating in a database (e.g., database 206) accordingly.

At step 407, the vehicle rating system 202 may parse data regarding aplurality of rated vehicles. For example, the vehicle rating system 202may parse data stored in a database 206 in order to identify one or morerated vehicles. In some embodiments, the database storing the dataregarding the plurality of rated vehicles may include a safety ratingassigned to each rated vehicle based on or more vehicle features,frequency of accidents, severity of accidents, and likelihood ofaccidents for a plurality of drivers associated with each rated vehicle.At step 408, the vehicle rating system 202 may determine if a ratedvehicle of a certain safety rating matches with a driver safety rating.That is, the vehicle rating system 202 may determine if one or morerated vehicles with certain safety ratings correspond to or are similarto the driver safety rating. In order to determine if the one or morerated vehicles with certain safety rating match the driver safetyrating, the vehicle rating system 202 may identify driving behaviors foreach of a plurality of drivers associated with each rated vehicle in adatabase 206. The vehicle rating system 202 may then determine a firstsubset of drivers (out of the plurality of drivers for each ratedvehicle) with driving behaviors that correspond to one or more drivingbehaviors of the driver of the vehicle. The vehicle rating system 202may subsequently identify one or more rated vehicles associated with thefirst subset of drivers. In other words, the vehicle rating system 202may be able to match a driver with one or more rated vehicles based onmatching the driver's driving behaviors with behaviors of a first subsetof drivers.

If the vehicle rating system 202 is able to match the driver safetyrating with one or more rated vehicles, then the method in this exampleproceeds to step 409. At step 409, the vehicle rating system 202 maygenerate and transmit a customized recommendation with the one or morerated vehicles to the driver. That is, the customized recommendation maypresent information regarding the one or more rated vehicles with safetyratings that correspond to or are similar to the driver safety rating.In some embodiments, the driver may request for information comprisingone or more preferences regarding a new vehicle for lease or purchase bythe driver. Thus, the vehicle rating system 202 may generate thecustomized recommendation based on the one or more preferences requestedby the driver. The driver may receive the customized recommendation atthe vehicle rating device 212 or mobile device 220.

If the vehicle rating system 202 is unable to match the driver safetyrating with one or more rated vehicles, then the method in this exampleproceeds to step 410. At step 410, the vehicle rating system 202 maytransmit a notification to the driver indicating a vehicle feature thatmay be beneficial to the driver based on analysis of the driver'sdriving behaviors. For example, the vehicle rating system 202 mayidentify that the driver drives faster than most drivers and mayrecommend that based on the driver's driving behaviors (e.g., fastdriving), the driver should look for a vehicle with better tractioncontrol to prevent loss of road grip when the driver is speeding. Thus,the vehicle rating system 202 may be able to provide customizedrecommendations that are useful for each driver according to his or herspecific driving behaviors.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 5illustrates example method steps for identifying a driver's drivingbehaviors, estimating a residual value for the driver's vehicle,determining whether or not the driver should sell or trade in his or hervehicle based on the driving behaviors and the residual value, andproviding a recommendation of one or more vehicles for purchase or leaseto the driver if the vehicle is ready for sale or trade-in. The steps ofFIG. 5 may be performed by subsystems, application servers, andcomputing devices of the vehicle rating system 202 (e.g., vehicle ratingsubsystem 203). One or more of the steps of FIG. 5 may be performed byexecuting a vehicle rating program (e.g., a vehicle rating mobileapplication) and/or by operating a particularly configured computingdevice of the vehicle rating system 202. As a result of the method ofFIG. 5, a driver, at vehicle rating device 212 (e.g., and/or at mobiledevice 220) and associated with vehicle 217, may be provided withinformation regarding a residual value of the vehicle 217 and arecommendation regarding whether or not to sell or trade-in the vehicle217.

The method of FIG. 5 may begin with step 501 of receiving driving data.For example, the vehicle rating system 202 may receive driving data fora driver of the vehicle 217. In some embodiments, the driving data ofthe driver of vehicle 217 may be collected over a period of time by thetelematics device 222, vehicle rating device 212, or mobile device 220.Driving data may include real-time data that is collected by one or moresensors (e.g., sensors 218) coupled to the vehicle 217 while the driveris driving. For example, driving data may include vehicle telematicsdata, along with location information, such as GPS coordinates,indicating the geographical location of the driver in the vehicle 217.At step 502, the vehicle rating system may identify driving behaviorsover the predetermined period of time based on the driving data. Forexample, the vehicle rating system 202 may identify one or more drivingbehaviors for the driver based on at least one of driving speeds,acceleration, braking, steering, miles driven, road conditions, amountof time driven, and the like. The driving behaviors may representpatterns in the driving data that are repeated over the predeterminedperiod of time. In some embodiments, the driving behaviors may indicatewhether the driver engages in speeding or driving slow, whether thedriver is taking sharp turns, whether the driver brakes suddenly, andthe like. In some cases, the driver may decide to lease his or hervehicle 217 instead of buying the vehicle 217. For such cases, thepredetermined period of time may correspond to a period of time set by alease agreement for the vehicle 217. In additional embodiments, thepredetermined period of time may represent a billing period associatedwith an insurance policy of the driver or a period of time (e.g., a day,a week, a month, a year, etc.) set by an insurance provider.

At step 503, the vehicle rating system may estimate a residual value forthe vehicle. For example, the vehicle rating system 202 may estimate aresidual value for the vehicle 217 based on one or more drivingbehaviors of the driver. For example, some drivers may engage in roughdriving behaviors, such as hard braking, sharp turns, inconsistentacceleration, speeding, and the like, in their purchased or leasedvehicles. Other drivers may engage in safer driving behaviors, such asslow turns, driving at or below posted speed limits, safe braking,consistent acceleration, and the like, in their purchased or leasedvehicles. Varying driving behaviors may affect a vehicle 217 differently(e.g., variations in wear in vehicle parts), and the value of thevehicle 217 may decrease based on how the driver drives the vehicle 217(e.g., based on vehicle usage by the driver).

After estimating a residual value for the vehicle 217, at step 504, thevehicle rating system 202 may determine whether or not the vehicle isready for sale or trade-in based on the residual value. For example, thevehicle rating system 202 may determine whether or not the estimatedresidual value of the driver's vehicle 217 is below or above apredefined threshold value. The predefined threshold value may representa value of the vehicle that is a certain percentage of the original costof the vehicle. For example, a driver may have initially purchased avehicle at $25,000, and the driver may consider replacing the vehicleafter 36 months (e.g., 3 years). After 36 months, the residual value ofthe vehicle may be 50%, in which case the vehicle may be worth $12,500.The driver may use the estimated residual value obtained from thevehicle rating system 202 to help him or her decide whether or not toreplace his or her vehicle. The predefined threshold value may be set toa value above what the vehicle will be worth at the end of the lease. Inother words, the vehicle rating system 202 may determine what thevehicle 217 is currently worth based on the driver's driving behaviorsand determine if the vehicle 217 is worth selling or replacing based onits residual value. In some embodiments, the predefined threshold valuemay be based on data for an average driver and/or based on aggregateddata for a plurality of drivers.

If the vehicle rating system 202 determines that the residual value ofthe vehicle is below or equal to the predefined threshold value, thenthe method in this example proceeds to step 505. At step 505, thevehicle rating system may transmit a notification to the driverindicating that the vehicle is not ready for sale or trade-in. Forexample, the vehicle rating system 202 may send a notification to thevehicle rating device 212 or the mobile device 220, in which thenotification includes the residual value of the vehicle 217. If thevehicle rating system 202 determines that the residual value of thevehicle is above the predefined threshold value, then the method in thisexample proceeds to step 506. At step 506, the vehicle rating system maytransmit a notification to the driver indicating that the vehicle isready for sale or trade-in. For example, the vehicle rating system 202may send a notification to the vehicle rating device 212 or the mobiledevice 220, in which the notification may include the residual value ofthe vehicle 217 and also inform the driver that the vehicle 217 is readyfor sale or trade-in.

At step 507, the vehicle rating system may parse data regarding aplurality of rated vehicles in a database. For example, the vehiclerating system 202 may parse data regarding a plurality of rated vehiclesin a vehicle ratings database (e.g., database 206) in order to identifyone or more rated vehicles that the driver may be interested in leasingor purchasing. In some cases, the driver may be able to trade-in his orher current vehicle to obtain another vehicle as a part of his or herleasing agreement with a car dealership or car provider. The vehiclerating system 202 may parse data regarding rated vehicles in order toidentify one or more rated vehicles that match the driver's drivingbehaviors. At step 508, the vehicle rating system 202 may generate arecommendation presenting one or more rated vehicles that correspond toone or more driving behaviors of the driver. After generating therecommendation, at step 509, the vehicle rating system 202 may transmitthe recommendation to the driver at the vehicle rating device 212 ormobile device 220. Ultimately, the vehicle rating system 202 may be ableto help a driver determine when his or her vehicle is ready for sale orready to be traded in based on the driver's driving behaviors and alsoprovide drivers with customized recommendations for purchasing orleasing rated vehicles.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 6illustrates example method steps for identifying one or more drivingbehaviors from driving data for a driver, determining if drivingbehaviors are safe or unsafe, and providing recommendations to unsafedrivers to stop driving due to unsafe driving behaviors, such asresulting from physical or mental impairments. The steps of FIG. 6 maybe performed by subsystems, application servers, and computing devicesof the vehicle rating system 202 (e.g., vehicle rating subsystem 203).One or more of the steps of FIG. 6 may be performed by executing avehicle rating program (e.g., a vehicle rating mobile application)and/or by operating a particularly configured computing device of thevehicle rating system 202. As a result of the method of FIG. 6, adriver, at vehicle rating device 212 (e.g., and/or at mobile device 220)and associated with vehicle 217, may be provided with a recommendationfrom an insurance provider or other entity implementing the systems andarrangements described herein, recommending the driver to no longerdrive or to limit his or her driving (e.g., avoid highways, drivingduring daylight and avoid night time driving, avoid driving in inclementweather, and the like). That is, the driver may be recommended to stopor limit driving due to unsafe driving behaviors that he or she may beengaging in as the driver gets older or reaches a certain age. Forexample, the driver may develop vision or hearing problems which maynegatively affect his or her driving ability. The vehicle rating systemmay allow drivers to be aware of their unsafe driving behaviors and mayprovide recommendations to prevent drivers who are unable to drivesafely from driving.

The method of FIG. 6 may begin with a step 601 of receiving drivingdata. For example, the vehicle rating system 202 may receive drivingdata for a driver of the vehicle 217. In some embodiments, the drivingdata of the driver of vehicle 217 may be collected over a period of timeby the telematics device 222, vehicle rating device 212, or mobiledevice 220. Driving data may include real-time data that is collected byone or more sensors (e.g., sensors 218) coupled to the vehicle 217 whilethe driver is driving. For example, driving data may include vehicletelematics data, along with location information, such as GPScoordinates, indicating the geographical location of the driver in thevehicle 217. At step 602, the vehicle rating system may identify drivingbehaviors over a predetermined period of time based on the driving data.For example, the vehicle rating system 202 may identify one or moredriving behaviors for the driver based on at least one of drivingspeeds, acceleration, braking, steering, miles driven, road conditions,amount of time driven, and the like. The driving behaviors may representpatterns in the driving data that are repeated over the predeterminedperiod of time. In some embodiments, the driving behaviors may indicatewhether the driver engages in speeding or driving slow, whether thedriver is taking sharp turns, whether the driver brakes suddenly, andthe like. In additional embodiments, the predetermined period of timemay represent a billing period associated with an insurance policy ofthe driver or a period of time (e.g., a day, a week, a month, a year,etc.) set by an insurance company. The vehicle rating system 202 may beable to identify how often or how frequently a driver engages in certaindriving behaviors.

At step 603, the vehicle rating system may calculate scores for each ofthe driving behaviors of the driver. For example, the vehicle ratingsystem 202 may calculate a score for speed, braking, steering, turnsignals, miles driven, amount of time driven at night, amount of timedriven during daytime, and the like. At step 603, the vehicle ratingsystem may determine whether each score for each driving behavior isbelow or at a threshold value corresponding to safe driving behaviors.For example, an insurance company may set certain threshold values orpredefined ranges that correspond to safe driving behaviors, and thevehicle rating system 202 may use these threshold values or predefinedranges to determine if a driver's scores are indicative of safe driving.

If one or more scores for the driving behaviors are not below or at athreshold value or within a predefined range, then the method in thisexample proceeds to step 605. At step 605, the vehicle rating system 202may identify that one or more driving behaviors of the driver correspondto safe driving behaviors. In some embodiments, driving behaviorsindicative of safe driving may include at least one of slow turns,driving at or below posted speed limits, safe braking, consistentacceleration, steady steering, safe lane changing, maintaining positionwithin a lane, maintaining safe distances from other vehicles whiledriving, and the like. After identifying that the driver isparticipating in safe driving behaviors, the vehicle rating system 202may return to step 601, at which the vehicle rating system 202 maycontinue to receive driving data collected by the telematics device 222in the vehicle 217. The vehicle rating system 202 may continuemonitoring the driving data until one or more unsafe driving behaviorsare detected.

If one or more scores for the driving behaviors are below or at athreshold value or within a predefined range, then the method in thisexample proceeds to step 606. At step 606, the vehicle rating system 202may identify that one or more driving behaviors of the driver correspondto unsafe driving behaviors. In some embodiments, driving behaviorsindicative of unsafe driving may include at least one of driving below aminimum speed limit or below a posted speed limit, missing trafficsignals, failing to stop at road signs, drifting into other laneswithout signaling while driving, slow braking, slow reaction time tomotorists or pedestrians, falling asleep while driving, and tailgatingother vehicles while driving. For example, as drivers get older or reachcertain ages, they may engage more often in unsafe driving behaviors,which may lead to dangerous collisions, serious injuries, and evenfatalities. The vehicle rating system 202 may be able to identify suchdriving behaviors and recommend for such drivers to no longer drive orto limit their driving.

After identifying unsafe driving behaviors, at step 607, the vehiclerating system 202 may determine if the driver has a history of unsafedriving behaviors. For example, the driver may have a driving historythat includes one or more roadside incidents (e.g., accidents, trafficstops, collisions, and the like) in which the driver has been involved.The vehicle rating system 202 may identify whether or not there are anypatterns in unsafe driving behaviors for the driver or whether or notthe unsafe driving behavior is a first incident in clean driving recordfor the driver.

If the driver does not have a history of unsafe driving behaviors, thenthe method in this example proceeds to step 608, at which the vehiclerating system 202 may create a record of the unsafe driving behavior.For example, the vehicle rating system 202 may create a record that thedriver was engaging in switching lanes without signaling, falling asleepwhile driving, or another unsafe driving behavior. In some cases, thevehicle rating system 202 may store the record in a driving behaviorsdatabase (e.g., database 206) for future use. That is, the vehiclerating system 202 may consult the database at a later time to determineif the driver has a history of unsafe driving behaviors, such as anumber of unsafe driving incidents above a predefined threshold. Aftercreating and storing the recording of the unsafe driving behavior, atstep 609, the vehicle rating system 202 may continue to receive drivingdata collected by the telematics device 222 in the vehicle 217. That is,the vehicle rating system 202 may continue monitoring the driving datauntil one or more unsafe driving behaviors are detected again.

If the driver has a history of unsafe driving behaviors, then the methodin this example proceeds to step 610, at which the vehicle rating system202 may send a recommendation to the driver to stop driving. Forexample, the vehicle rating system 202 may provide a recommendation onbehalf of an insurance company, recommending that the driver no longerdrive because he or she is unable to engage in safe driving behaviors.That is, the driver may be an insurance policy holder at an insurancecompany and may be above a certain age (e.g., above 65 years old, 70years old, 75 years old, or the like). Based on the driver's unsafedriving behaviors, the vehicle rating system 202 may recommend that itmay be time for the driver to no longer drive due to age or healthreasons or to limit his or her driving. The driver may receive therecommendation at the vehicle rating device 212 or mobile device 220. Insome cases, the vehicle rating system 202 may determine that a driverwho repeatedly engages in unsafe driving behaviors may be ineligible forinsurance coverage from an insurance policy. Thus, the recommendationsent to the driver may also include information regarding the driver'sineligibility for insurance.

In some cases, the vehicle rating system 202 may notify the driver of aresidual value of the vehicle 217 and include one or more offers fromthird parties for selling the vehicle 217, along with the estimatedresidual value, in the recommendation sent to the driver. That is, thevehicle rating system 202 may be able to calculate or estimate how muchthe vehicle may be worth based on the driving behaviors of the driver.The vehicle rating system 202 may also be able to obtain the best offersfor the driver to sell the vehicle to one or more third party entitiesand send the prospective offers to the driver. Thus, the driver may beable to sell his or her vehicle and make a profit when the time comesfor him or her to stop driving.

FIGS. 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, 9A, 9B, 10A, and 10B each depict an illustrativediagram of example user interfaces of a vehicle rating application 702operating on a vehicle rating device 700 in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The example user interfaces may be presented ona display of a computing device, such as display 214 of vehicle ratingdevice 212. A driver operating a vehicle, such as vehicle 217, mayaccess a vehicle rating application 702 using a vehicle rating device700 (e.g., at least one of the vehicle rating device 212, telematicsdevice 222, or mobile device 220). The driver operating the vehiclerating device 700 may tap on a button or icon on the user interfacesdepicted in FIGS. 7A-10B to navigate to different screens in the vehiclerating application 702.

Specifically, FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate example user interfaces ofutilizing a vehicle rating application 702 to view and manage vehiclesafety ratings. The user interface in FIG. 7A may depict an example ofwhat the vehicle rating application 702 may present to a driver afterassigning vehicle safety ratings to each of a plurality of vehicles. Thevehicle rating application 702 may present information regarding eachrated vehicle to the driver. For example, vehicle type 1, vehicle type2, and vehicle type 3 may represent different vehicle types. In someembodiments, each type of vehicle may be the same year, make, and/ormodel. Each vehicle type may also vary by different trim lines or mayhave the same trim line, engine, options, tire size, and the like.Although only three vehicles are illustrated in the user interface inFIG. 7A, the vehicle rating application 702 may present informationregarding any number of rated vehicles to the driver. In some cases, thevehicle rating application 702 may display information regarding thefrequency of accidents, the severity of accidents, and the likelihood ofaccidents for a particular vehicle type. In some cases, the vehicle typemay represent the vehicle make, vehicle model, and vehicle year of aparticular vehicle. A vehicle type may be driven by a plurality ofdrivers, wherein the vehicle of each respective driver may be insured byan insurance company. For example, there may be hundreds of thousands ofdrivers who drive the same vehicle make, vehicle model, and vehicleyear, such as a vehicle of vehicle type 1, described above. The vehiclerating application 702 may utilize driving data obtained from eachdriver to identify common driving behaviors for a plurality of driversof a vehicle type. The vehicle rating application 702 may also be ableto obtain a vehicle rating for a vehicle type that is normalized by thedriving behaviors for the plurality of drivers for a vehicle type.

The user interface in FIG. 7B may depict an example of what the vehiclerating application 702 may present to a driver after the driver choosesthe “Select vehicle” option depicted in the FIG. 7A user interface. Forexample, the vehicle rating application 702 may present detailedinformation regarding interior features, exterior features, vehiclequality, performance, engine power, and the like. The vehicle ratingapplication 702 may also present the assigned vehicle safety rating forthe vehicle type to the driver, in which the assigned vehicle safetyrating is based on an accident frequency value, accident severity value,and driving behaviors for each driver of the vehicle type. In someembodiments, the driver may be able to select “View offers for thisvehicle” in order to view one or more offers from third party entitieswhich may be selling the vehicle.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate example user interfaces of utilizing avehicle rating application 702 to view and/or receive informationregarding driver safety ratings and customized recommendations of one ormore rated vehicles, respectively. The user interfaces in FIG. 8A andFIG. 8B each illustrate an example of a notification or recommendationthat the driver associated with vehicle 217 may receive on his or hervehicle rating device 212 or mobile device 220. That is, the vehiclerating application 702 may calculate a driver safety rating for thedriver based on identifying one or more driving behaviors of the driver.For example, the vehicle rating application 702 may calculate scores foreach driving behavior and calculate an overall score by adding up allthe driving behavior scores. In some embodiments, each driving behaviorscore may be on the scale of 1 to 10, 1 to 100, or any other range ofvalues. In some embodiments, the overall driving score may be on thescale from 1 to 100 or any other range of values. Further, the vehiclerating application 702 may calculate a driver safety rating based on theoverall driving score, wherein predetermined score ranges may correspondto different driver safety ratings. For example, an overall scorebetween 90 to 100 may correspond to a driver safety rating of A, anoverall score between 80 to 90 may correspond to a driver safety ratingof B, an overall score between 70 to 80 may correspond to an driversafety rating of C, and so forth. Based on the driver safety rating, thevehicle rating application 702 may determine one or more rated vehiclesto present in a customized recommendation to the driver.

The user interface in FIG. 8B may depict an example of what the vehiclerating application 702 may present to a driver after selecting the “Viewcustomized recommendation” option displayed in the user interface ofFIG. 8A. The driver may be able to view information regarding one ormore rated vehicles that match the driver's safety rating in the FIG. 8Buser interface. Although only three vehicles are illustrated in the userinterface in FIG. 8B, the vehicle rating application 702 may presentinformation regarding any number of rated vehicles to the driver. Insome embodiments, the vehicle rating application 702 may determine oneor more rated vehicles with safety ratings that correspond to or aresimilar to the driver safety rating assigned to the driver based onparsing data regarding a plurality of rated vehicles. The vehicle ratingapplication 702 may generate and present a customized recommendation tothe driver, wherein the customized recommendation presents informationregarding the one or more rated vehicles with safety ratings thatcorrespond to or are similar to the driver safety rating. For example,the customized recommendation may provide information regarding eachvehicle type (e.g., vehicle model, vehicle make, and year), one or morefeatures of each vehicle type, and a vehicle safety rating assigned toeach vehicle type based on the frequency of accidents, the severity ofaccidents, the likelihood of accidents, and the driving behaviors ofeach driver of the vehicle type.

In some embodiments, the vehicle rating application 702 may also presentone or more features that may be of particular importance to the driverbased on his or her driving behaviors. For example, a certain driver maydrive faster than other drivers; thus, the vehicle rating application702 may recommend that the driver purchase or lease a vehicle with anenhanced traction control system to prevent loss of road grip when thedriver is speeding. The vehicle rating application 702 may be able toprovide detailed vehicle recommendations to drivers at a granular levelbased on each driver's driving behaviors. Drivers may be able to use thevehicle rating application 702 to view information regarding eachvehicle, by selecting the vehicle type and/or by selecting a particularfeature through the options presented in the FIG. 8B user interface.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate example user interfaces of utilizing avehicle rating application 702 to view and/or receive informationregarding whether or not a rated vehicle is ready for sale or trade-in.The user interfaces in FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B each illustrate an example ofa notification or recommendation that the driver associated with vehicle217 may receive on his or her vehicle rating device 212 or mobile device220. That is, the vehicle rating application 702 may identify a driver'sdriving behaviors, estimate a residual value, and determine if thedriver should sell or trade-in his or her vehicle 217 based on thedriving behaviors and the residual value. The user interface in FIG. 9Amay depict an example of what the vehicle rating application 702 maypresent to a driver if the driver has extensively used his or hervehicle 217 and engaged in unsafe driving behaviors. For example, thedriver may have engaged in unsafe driving behaviors in the vehicle 217,such as hard braking, inconsistent acceleration, speeding, and the like.The vehicle rating application 702 may also detect that the driver'svehicle 217 has been damaged due to the driver's reckless drivingbehaviors. Furthermore, the vehicle rating application 702 may estimatea residual value of the vehicle 217 and provide a recommendation to thedriver regarding whether or not to sell the vehicle at a certain time orin the future.

The user interface in FIG. 9B may depict an example of what the vehiclerating application 702 may present to a driver if the driver has engagedin safe driving behaviors. For example, the driver may have exhibitedsafe driving behaviors in the vehicle 217, such as driving at postedspeed limits, making slow turns, braking safely, and the like. Thevehicle rating application 702 may also detect that the driver's vehicle217 is in good condition because of the driver's safe driving behaviors.Additionally, the vehicle rating application 702 may estimate a residualvalue of the vehicle 217 and provide a recommendation to the driverregarding whether or not to sell the vehicle at a certain time or in thefuture.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate example user interfaces of utilizing avehicle rating application 702 to view and/or receive drivingrecommendations for drivers and options for selling vehicles,respectively. The user interface in FIG. 10A illustrates an example of anotification or recommendation that the driver associated with vehicle217 may receive on his or her vehicle rating device 212 or mobile device220. That is, the vehicle rating application 702 may calculate a drivingscore for the driver based on identifying one or more unsafe drivingbehaviors of the driver. For example, the vehicle rating application 702may determine that the driver has a overall driving score that is belowa “passing grade” (e.g., a 70/100) or below a predefined threshold anddetermine that the driver of vehicle 217 has a history of unsafe drivingbehaviors. Based on the driver's unsafe driving behaviors and drivinghistory, the vehicle rating application 702 may provide a recommendationto the driver, recommending that the driver should no longer be driving,such as for health reasons. The driver may be able to speak with aninsurance provider regarding the recommendation by selecting the“Contact insurance provider” option displayed in the FIG. 10A userinterface in order to discuss the driver's options regarding therecommendation. After receiving the recommendation from the vehiclerating application 702 to stop driving, the driver may also select the“View options for selling” option displayed in the FIG. 10A userinterface in order to figure out if he or she wants to sell his or hervehicle.

The user interface in FIG. 10B may depict an example of what the vehiclerating application 702 may present to a driver after selecting the “Viewoptions for selling” option displayed in the FIG. 10A user interface. Insome embodiments, the vehicle rating application 702 may estimate aresidual value of the driver's vehicle 217, in which the residual valuemay represent what the vehicle 217 is currently worth based on thedriver's driving behaviors. For example, the driver may have leased hisor her vehicle for a certain period of time (e.g., 6 months, 12 months,24 months, or another period of time), and the monetary value of thevehicle 217 may have decreased based on the driver's usage of thevehicle 217. Thus, the vehicle rating application 702 may present thecurrent value of the vehicle to the driver, along with informationregarding the driver's vehicle lease. The vehicle rating application 702may also provide one or more offers for the driver to sell the vehicle217 to various third parties. That is, the vehicle rating application702 may also be able to present the best offers for the driver to sellthe vehicle to one or more third party entities and send the prospectiveoffers to the driver. The driver may be able to view informationregarding the offers and/or accept an offer through the optionspresented in the FIG. 10B user interface.

Aspects of the invention have been described in terms of illustrativeembodiments thereof. Numerous other embodiments, modifications, andvariations within the scope and spirit of the appended claims will occurto persons of ordinary skill in the art from a review of thisdisclosure. For example, one of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the steps illustrated in the illustrative figures may beperformed in other than the recited order, and that one or more stepsillustrated may be optional in accordance with aspects of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a telematics deviceassociated with a vehicle having one or more sensors arranged therein; afirst computing device associated with a driver of the vehicle; and adriving analysis server, comprising hardware including a processor andmemory, the driving analysis server configured to: collect, from the oneor more sensors and via the telematics device and over a predeterminedperiod of time, real-time driving data of the driver of the vehicle;based on the driving data, identify, via the processor, one or moredriving patterns of the driver over the predetermined period of time; calculate, via the processor and for each of the one or more drivingpatterns of the driver, a score;  identify at least one score that isbelow one or more threshold values corresponding to safe drivingpatterns; determine, based on the at least one score, that the driverhas a history of driving patterns indicative of unsafe driving; based onthe determining that the driver has a history of driving patternsindicative of unsafe driving, generate a recommendation from aninsurance provider for the driver to stop or limit driving; generate,responsive to the recommendation for the driver to stop or limitdriving, a residual value of the vehicle, wherein the residual value ofthe vehicle is based on the one or more driving patterns of the driver;and transmit, to the first computing device, the recommendation to stopor limit driving and the residual value of the vehicle.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the driving patterns indicative of unsafe drivingcomprise at least one of a pattern of: driving below a minimum speedlimit or below a posted speed limit, missing traffic signals, failing tostop at road signs, drifting into other lanes without signaling whiledriving, slow braking, slow reaction time to motorists or pedestrians,falling asleep while driving, and tailgating other vehicles.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the driving analysis server is furtherconfigured to: determine whether each score is below the one or morethreshold values corresponding to the safe driving patterns; andidentify the at least one score that is below the one or more thresholdvalues.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the driving analysis server isfurther configured to: send, to the first computing device, one or moreoffers from third party entities for the driver to sell the vehicle. 5.The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a drivingpatterns database, and wherein the driving analysis server is furtherconfigured to determine the history by: identifying that the driver hasone or more roadside incidents; and creating a record of the history inthe driving patterns database.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein thedriving data comprises real-time data that is collected, while thedriver is driving, by the one or more sensors arranged in the vehicle,and wherein the one or more driving patterns of the driver are based onat least one of driving speeds, acceleration, braking, steering, milesdriven, road conditions, and amount of time driven over thepredetermined period of time.
 7. An apparatus comprising: at least oneprocessor; a network interface configured to communicate, via a network,with: a telematics device associated with a vehicle having one or moresensors arranged therein and a first computing device; and a memorystoring computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the atleast one processor, cause the apparatus to: collect, from the one ormore sensors and via the telematics device and over a predeterminedperiod of time, real-time driving data of a driver of the vehicle; basedon the driving data, identify, via the processor, one or more drivingpatterns of the driver over the predetermined period of time; calculate, via the processor and for each of the one or more drivingpatterns of the driver, a score;  identify at least one score that isbelow one or more threshold values corresponding to safe drivingpatterns; determine, based on the at least one score, that the driverhas a history of driving patterns indicative of unsafe driving; based onthe determining that the driver has a history of driving patternsindicative of unsafe driving, generate a recommendation from aninsurance provider for the driver to stop or limit driving; generate,responsive to the recommendation for the driver to stop or limitdriving, a residual value of the vehicle, wherein the residual value ofthe vehicle is based on the one or more driving patterns of the driver;and transmit, to the first computing device, the recommendation to stopor limit driving and the residual value of the vehicle.
 8. The apparatusof claim 7, wherein the driving patterns indicative of unsafe drivingcomprises at least one of a pattern of: driving below a minimum speedlimit or below a posted speed limit, missing traffic signals, failing tostop at road signs, drifting into other lanes without signaling whiledriving, slow braking, slow reaction time to motorists or pedestrians,falling asleep while driving, and tailgating other vehicles.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 7, wherein the instructions, when executed by the atleast one processor, further cause the apparatus to: determine whethereach score is below the one or more threshold values corresponding tothe safe driving patterns; and identify the at least one score that isbelow the one or more threshold values.
 10. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein the driver is a holder of an insurance policy and the driver isabove a certain age, and wherein the predetermined period of timecorresponds to a billing period associated with the insurance policy.11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the driving data comprisesreal-time data that is collected, while the driver is driving, by theone or more sensors arranged in the vehicle, and wherein the one or moredriving patterns of the driver are based on at least one of drivingspeeds, acceleration, braking, steering, miles driven, road conditions,and amount of time driven over the predetermined period of time.
 12. Amethod comprising: collecting, over a predetermined period of time andby a telematics device associated with a vehicle having one or moresensors arranged therein, real-time driving data of a driver of thevehicle; based on the driving data, identifying, by one or morecomputing devices, one or more driving patterns of the driver over thepredetermined period of time; calculating, via the processor and foreach of the one or more driving patterns of the driver, a score;identifying at least one score that is below one or more thresholdvalues corresponding to safe driving patterns; determining, by the oneor more computing devices and based on the at least one score, that thedriver has a history of driving patterns indicative of unsafe driving;based on the determining that the driver has a history of drivingpatterns indicative of unsafe driving, generating a recommendation froman insurance provider for the driver to stop or limit driving;generating, responsive to the recommendation for the driver to stop orlimit driving, a residual value of the vehicle, wherein the residualvalue of the vehicle is based on the one or more driving patterns of thedriver; and transmitting, to the driver, the recommendation to stop orlimit driving and the residual value of the vehicle.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the driving patterns indicative of unsafe drivingcomprise at least one of a pattern of: driving below a minimum speedlimit or below a posted speed limit, missing traffic signals, failing tostop at road signs, drifting into other lanes without signaling whiledriving, slow braking, slow reaction time to motorists or pedestrians,falling asleep while driving, and tailgating other vehicles.
 14. Themethod of claim 12, wherein determining the at least one score furthercomprises: determining whether each score is below the one or morethreshold values corresponding to the safe driving patterns; andidentifying the at least one score that is below the one or morethreshold values.
 15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:sending, by the one or more computing devices and to the driver, one ormore offers from third party entities for the driver to sell thevehicle.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein the driver is a holder ofan insurance policy and the driver is above a certain age, and whereinthe predetermined period of time corresponds to a billing periodassociated with the insurance policy.
 17. The method of claim 12,wherein the driving data comprises real-time data that is collected,while the driver is driving, by one or more sensors coupled to thevehicle, and wherein the one or more driving patterns of the driver arebased on at least one of driving speeds, acceleration, braking,steering, miles driven, road conditions, and amount of time driven overthe predetermined period of time.